Crimson System of Vampire Prince

She replied with trembling lips, "Look, Zara, the situation was different. I didn't have a choice."

Zara gnashed her teeth and stepped back. She glared at her through her hazy vision. "So it is, yes, then, I never would have thought the first friend I made here would betray me." Zara cried with trembling lips.

"Zara, you don't understand. I didn't have a choice." Kate stepped closer toward her.

Zara backed away and snapped, "Did he force himself on you?"

"No!" Kate shouted, shaking her head.

"Then it is clear. Kate, you and I are no longer friends. I…" She paused mid-sentence and turned, running away into the dense forest.

Kate didn't chase her; she leaned against a tree, and her tears fell on the ground. She raised her head, stared at the dark sky, hidden behind the foliage. She muttered, in trembling words, "Why…is this night so long?"

Crunch- thud!

Zara ran through winding trees and grass-covered ground. She wiped the tears away with her arm and kept running.

Thud!

She fell to her knees, far away from the race track. She bawled out, her gut-wrenching screams echoed in the silent forest. Unbeknownst to her, two hazel eyes stalked her like prey. They didn't move and did not even blink.

Her crying slowly turned hoarse and then stopped. She fell face-first on the ground. 'I was only here because of him. I wanted to get closer to him. I should have confessed earlier. We kissed. Does it mean nothing to him?'

'I should talk to Victor. How dare he do that to me.'

'No, I can not. He didn't do anything wrong. I'm at fault, I should have confessed earlier, and now it's too late.'

Rustle!

Her eyes snapped open, and she jerked upright. Her cautious eyes darted around, her body tensed, ready to attack.

"Hello, I didn't want to startle you." A young man appeared before her.

She flinched, backing away. She squinted her eyes and asked in a hoarse voice, "Who are you?"

"Ahh, Sorry about that. My name is Aslan—a third-year cadet from the blue faction. I was collecting the herbs when I heard the cries of distress. So, I ran here to check." He replied with a charismatic smile.

Zara relaxed and gave him a stiff smile. He moved closer toward her. A scent wafted around her nose. It cleared her mind, and her body relaxed. Her eyes drifted toward his face, her heart skipped, and a blush crept on her face. She felt her heart ache with his every eye movement.

Ding!

[Heal activated]

Her eyes widened, and she backed away, frowning at the boy before her. She asked in a cautious tone, "You're Aslan Kauffman, right?"

He nodded with furrowed eyebrows that turned normal in an instant. "Yes, I'm. Have you heard about me?"

"My name is Zara Quinn." She replied in a neutral tone and walked away.

She has a strong mentality. I shouldn't force it right away.' Aslan glanced at Zara's retreating figure and licked his lips.

"Don't worry, you'll become a beautiful sacrifice. I will do it slowly." He whispered with a smirk.

Zara appeared at the race track and started running to the finish line. 'I don't care about missing breakfast. I'll spend more time in the library. But what was that? Why did my heart feel like that? And what happened? Why did heal activate itself?

She shook her head and muttered, "Let's search more about the heal skill in the library."

Later in the library, Zara searched through the books; her stomach growled. She winced and peeked around her. There was no one to notice her embarrassment. She took a relieved sigh and started searching through the aisle of books.

The Library of the Military Academy was always quiet; very few students had an interest in books. Few who come here only search for something particular.

Zara liked to read, even useless books. Her interest in books was due to Victor. He practically lived in the Elarion School library. But here, he never visited the library even once. She knew the reason: back in school, Victor used to hide from the world. He would always change his place and hide in cryptic places. Zara picked up a book and smiled at the nostalgic memories. She knew all about him; she knew what he liked and what he felt. 'He was an outcast.'

She shook her head and stared blankly at the plain book. 'I only saw him from a distance, hidden behind the glass; I never really got close to him. I remained distant, and I thought that I understood him deeper, but I didn't. I enjoyed my life and yearned for his love. But I never helped him, and never asked how he truly felt.'

She exhaled, and her vision turned hazy. She wiped her tears and took a deep breath. "My love for him is my selfishness." She whispered

She took a brown leather book, with a name 'Holy Priestess Skills' written in gold letters. She placed the stack of books on the table and sat down. She opened and searched for the Heal Skills.

'[Heal stat]- page-150'

Her eyes widened as she finally found the stat knowledge. She opened the page and started reading. As she read, her eyes slowly widened. Her hands trembled, one after another page, her expression kept changing.

"Huh!" An exhausted sigh escaped from her as she closed the book and put it aside. She glanced at the roof and compiled the knowledge she got from it.

'The Heal stat was only awakened by the few Holy Priestesses. It was awakened by two high priestesses in the past thousand years. It was said that it gave a huge advantage to humans in a war against the Chaos Aliens. In the last 500years, no priestess was able to awaken the stat.'

'The heal stat not only protects a priestess herself from any kind of injury, but their skills related to heal get enhanced, too.'

'The Heal stat is a shield of blessing from the Holy Goddess Gaia.' The second priestess and head of the temple, 700 years ago, used to say.

'Nurture your heal stat, don't tell anyone. It not only protects you from the physical attacks but also from mental ones.'

At the end of the book, it was written that many priestesses in the last five centuries died from assassination. There may have been a Priestess who had awakened the heal stats, but we were never able to know about it. The Holy Empire is in a weak position with its allies from the Sun Empire. The temple force has significantly weakened, which further leads to the death and corruption of many Humans on the battlefield.

Many experts say that the existence of humanity will depend on the next priestess who awakens a heal stat. But if you're the one or know the one, I urge you to keep it secret. Never tell anyone about it.

Zara stared at the book. It wasn't just knowledge; it was a message from someone who cared for humanity. Her blue eyes glimmered with a new resolve. She sensed a direction. She muttered, "A pillar of humanity." As the words escaped from her mouth, a smile appeared on her face.